This Working Group is probably not the oldest one of the Working Groups of the European Federation of WPSA but looks back on a long history. As the first Symposium was organized in 1973 in Roskilde (DK) the establishment of the group was probably in the early 1970s. The objectives of this group are mainly providing the different research teams in the branches with basic knowledge in the whole field of poultry carcass and meat quality. Members of the Working Group exchange information on the research between the different research institutes and develop new research ideas for international cooperation to improve the value of poultry meat products for human consumption. Working group activities are presented on Working Group Symposia, European Conferences and World Congresses to a broader audience.

The combined expertise of the working group resulted in several recommendations for the assessment of carcass and meat quality features in the past. The first recommendation dealt with standardizing terms for poultry carcass parts (WPSA, 1983: Terms used for parts of poultry in different languages. World's Poultry Science Journal 39: 64-73) and the second one with a recommendation for the sensory assessment of poultry meat (WPSA, 1987: Recommendation for a standardized method of sensory analysis for broilers. World's Poultry Science Journal 43: 64-68). Several attempts have also been made to harmonize the methodologies for the assessment of poultry meat quality, but did not result in official recommendations. Meanwhile, a recommendation for the assessment of chemical and physical criteria of poultry meat has been published (M. Petracci and E. Baeza, 2010: Harmonization of the methodologies for the assessment of poultry meat quality features, World's Poultry Science Journal67: 137-151).

Since the foundation of the group Working Group Symposia took place in biannual intervals:

1st

1973

Roskilde

Denmark

2nd

1975

Oosterbeek

The Netherlands

3rd

1977

Grub

Germany

4th

1979

Norwich

United Kingdom

5th

1981

Apeldoorn,

The Netherlands

6th

1983

Ploufragan

France

7th

1985

Vejle

Denmark

8th

1987

Budapest

Hungary

9th

1989

Stuttgart

Germany

10th

1991

Doorwerth

The Netherlands

11th

1993

Tours

France

12th

1995

Zaragoza

Spain

13th

1997

Poznan

Poland

14th

1999

Bologna

Italy

15th

2001

Kusadasi

Turkey

16th

2003

St Brieuc

France

17th

2005

Doorwerth

The Netherlands

18th

2007

Prague

Czech Republic

19th

2009

Turku

Finland

20th

2011

Leipzig

Germany

21st

2013

Bergamo

Italy

22nd

2015

Nantes

France

23rd

2017

Edinburgh

United Kingdom

Since 1981 the Symposium is run in parallel with the newly established European Symposium on Egg Quality of WG 4. Over the years, the Meat Quality Symposium grew up from few presentations and less than 100 participants to more than 40 oral presentations, countless posters and more than 200 participants coming from all over the World. The 23rd Symposium is planned to be held in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, from 3-5 September 2017.

During the long history of Working Group 5 the group has undergone several changes. Currently, based on a first idea discussed during the 10th EPC in Jerusalem (1998) an intensive discussion has been launched on opening the group to members from all countries of the World considering the changes in production centres for poultry meat and in poultry meat consumption. First steps towards this direction have been started in 2009.

In its history the working group was chaired by D.H. Shrimpton (United Kingdom), S. Scholtyssek (Germany), J. Fris Jensen (Denmark), G.C. Mead (United Kingdom), T.G. Uijttenboogaart (The Nethelrands), P. Colin (France), R.W.A.W. Mulder (The Netherlands), M.A. Grashorn (Germany) and M. Duclos (France).Currently, the Working Group comprises 21 delegates from 12 countries of the European Federation.

Further details of Working Group 5 can be obtained from the current Chairman:Dr M. PetracciE-mail: